The 2007 Jackson Fire Department recruit class has hit another obstacle. Almost half the graduating class, 10 out of 23, failed a field delivery test administered by the state fire academy. Recruits who failed the field delivery test may now opt for the state-certified minimum standards test.
Fire Chief Vernon Hughes asked the Mississippi State Minimum Standards Board to administer the minimum standards test for the 10 failed applicants last Wednesday, hoping the board would spare the applicants from starting a six-month training process anew.
JFD Chief of Training Ronerick Simpson said the recruits' failure rate was partially because of a new, unfamiliar curriculum the Jackson Fire Academy was teaching this year.
"After all the changes … this year we felt it would be to our advantage to ensure that our individuals would get the most recent training we could give them, so we entered with the field program of the state fire academy, which is the first time we've ever done that. … Ten of our recruits did not make it through that system, so now we're asking that those 10 individuals be afforded an opportunity to try again," Simpson told the board.
The board granted Hughes' request for a new test after hearing of the module's failure rate.
"All we need is a list of the recruits needing the test and a date from the city that you would like to take the test," said board Chairman Reggie Bell.
Local firefighter's union president Capt. Brandon Falcon said he was grateful the panel had been generous.
"If the fire academy hadn't given them leeway, they would've had to re-take the entire cycle ... That's about another six months. They're supposed to graduate and be on fire trucks next Saturday."
The Jackson City Council voted 4-0 in a July 24 special meeting to approve a contract between the Jackson Fire Academy and Mississippi State Fire Academy, to secure materials and modules to improve testing scores of the city academy.
Hughes said at the time that the contract would "help us to produce these firefighters in a more efficient and better way … as well as get (them) equipped and trained and … out onto the truck."
This is the second snafu the 2007 recruit class has suffered. In May, the Mississippi State Minimum Standards Board invalidated the recruits' Candidate Physical Ability Test because the city had broken a standard rule while administering the test.
A Mississippi State Fire Academy representative or an academy-approved monitor must be on hand to observe the administration of the CPAT, but the city failed to provide one.
Hughes, who was not chief at the time, argued that the fire department had administered the test despite the absence of a state fire academy representative because of "considerable pressure by the administration," due to "the shortage of manpower."
Hughes had the test videotaped, but the video did not satisfy the board.
The class of 23 is a drop down from the original 60 recruits after background checks and physical endurance tests. If the number falls to 13, the resulting graduates will do little to ameliorate the city's shortage of manpower in the fire department.
The department currently has about 345 firefighters, but needs at least 50 more to meet federal standards and keep residents' home insurance rates low. Falcon warned that many firefighters have filed notices for retirement this year.
The shortage is also impacting the city budget. The fire and police departments gobbled up almost $4 million in overtime in 2006 as the departments worked to fill schedule holes. The 2007 budget reveals overtime costs of almost $3 million by both departments.
The city held a graduation ceremony last week for the 13 graduates who passed the field delivery module plus five lateral transfers from other fire departments. Simpson said the 10 recruits in question will be assigned to fire stations as soon as they pass the minimum standards test.
Previous Commentsshow
What's this?More like this story
More stories by this author
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.